The grooming gangs scandal has horrors all of its own. But it's also the tip of the iceberg when it comes to public sector failure, where managerial bureaucracy has killed compassion and common sense, says Dr Rowena Slope.
An ex-NHS psychologist, accused of prescribing puberty blockers to a girl who liked Thomas The Tank Engine, has launched a new gender clinic for children.
Statistics reveal that 382 children, aged six and under, were referred to the Gender Identity Development Service, operated by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust in North London.
Save the Children and the NSPCC have written to Baroness Hallett to complain that children haven't been heard from in the Covid Inquiry and haven't been invited to submit evidence.
Despite early evidence being clear that children were not at risk from Covid or a risk to others, our public health authorities, politicians and media turned on children and subjected them to extraordinary harm.
During the peak of Covid, abusers exploited lockdowns to harm children, leading to a grim rise in fatalities. Government figures showed a 20% increase in child deaths involving abuse or neglect.
It is unforgivable what society has inflicted on children over the past two years in the name of combating a virus from which they are not at risk – and all as the evidence piled up of how much it was harming them.
A recent report by Ofsted on the impact of lockdown on children suggests children came back after months in isolation more anxious about socialising and behind on the most basic educational and life skills.
Children were subjected to all manner of unevidenced and harmful interventions during the pandemic, not least of which was frequent testing. We must now prioritise their recovery and ensure it never happens again.
The draft terms of reference for the COVID-19 public inquiry must be revised to include the effect of the pandemic response on children and young people, 54 scientists and medics have said.
